For one young Da Nang City resident, Sunday mornings are a time for giving back to the community by providing fresh Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches for local low income workers. Ha Tran Tieu My, 23, has spent the past year familiarizing herself with the faces of her neighborhood’s workers and elderly residents thanks to her free Sunday morning street-side banh mi stand. As early as 6 a.m., senior citizens, lottery ticket sellers, motorbike taxi drivers, and street peddlers shouldering a bamboo pole yoked with baskets of good on either end make their weekly pilgrimage to My’s glass-sided stand to sample one of the 150 pre-prepared sandwiches awaiting the neighborhood’s needy. For aged late-comers living in the labyrinth of back alleys nearby the stand are hand-delivered the weekly meal by My and her partners at the Han River Charity. The banh mi, worth approximately VND10,000 (nearly $0.5) a piece, taste well-above their value, according to the praise received from locals for its taste and the hygienic conditions in which the food is prepared. “Her banh mi are stuffed with pork and slices of cha [pork ham], and they are seasoned to my taste,” said Pham Thi Tuyet, a local lottery ticket seller. Banh mi is just one of the meals served up by My. On rainy days, banh bao (steamed pork buns) or banh beo (steamed rice pancakes) make it on the menu. Each dish is also adjusted for taste after feedback from her ‘customers.’ Rain or shine, she and her… [Read full story]

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The decision, which will take effect later this year, has been approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and included in Decree 100 about the development and management of social housing. People with low incomes will be able to take out bank loans with annual interest of 4.8 percent a year. The loans will be provided by the Vietnam Bank for Social Polices. The decree also states that buyers can borrow up to 80 percent of the property's value. Should they wish to repair or renovate their property, the bank will lend them up to 70 percent of the costs…... [read more]

Under the project, about 184,000 flats with a total floor space of 9,580,000m2 will be built at a total capitalisation of roughly VND49,000 billion. The new houses and flats will be reserved for low-income earners to rent or purchase. The Ministry of Construction said around one third of nearly two million Vietnamese state employees do not have adequate housing. They added that in urban areas, tens of thousands of households in various economic sectors are living in houses that are far below required normal standards.... [read more]

Le Van Khoa, deputy chairman of the city People’s Committee, has confirmed the plan, adding that each apartment of about 70 square meters is expected to cost only VND100 million (about US$4,500). To put that in persepctive, most apartments of similar size in the city now cost at least VND1 billion.It is not immediately clear how many affordable units will be built in the city, but such projects are likely to be developed near industrial parks.Local authorities in Binh Duong last year launched 5,000 apartments in its housing program for low-income people and has started construction work on another 10,000…... [read more]

PANO – Doctors and medical workers of Military Hospital 175 under the Ministry of National Defense and the Ho Chi Minh City Ophthalmic Hospital on October 6 provided free eye surgeries and eye tests for war veterans, poor people, Vietnamese residents, and officials of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces at Preahket Mealea Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The program, with the participation of Vietnamese Deputy Defense Minister, Lieutenant General Tran Don and Cambodian Secretary of State for Defense Meung Samphon, ispart of activities of the ongoing Vietnam-Cambodia Trade Fair from October 6 to 10 in Phnom Penh under the theme…... [read more]

Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Vientiane (VNA) –Vietnamese medical staff and volunteers offered free health check-ups andmedicines to 350 war veterans and poor families in Saythani district, Vientiane,Laos on December 17. Speaking at the event, Chairman ofthe Doctors and Friends Club and Human Resources Director of Hung Viet cancerhospital Nguyen Duc Van said Sabaidee Vientiane 2016 is a charity programme thataims to partly share the suffering of Lao ex-revolutionaries during thestruggle for national liberation. He hoped that the programme will takeplace in Laos annually.Chairman of the Lao War Veterans’Association, Maj. Gen Somphon Keomixay, for his part, hailed the activity as adeed…... [read more]